Derby draw for PAOK and Aris

By: Peter Katsiris | January 14th, 2009

Two matches in the Greek Cup on Wednesday went a long way to clear up the cup picture in Greece, but while Panathinaikos cruised to a 4-0 victory over Panthrakikos, PAOK and Aris rekindled their historic rivalry with another 0-0 draw in Thessaloniki.

Panthrakikos kept proceedings close on Saturday, when Panathinaikos made the trip to Komotini for the first of two matches against the newly promoted side. While Saturday’s match ended in a respectable 3-1 loss, Panthrakikos didn’t give the same valiant effort on Wendesday as Panathinaikos went on cruise control to thrash the Thracian club with a 4-0 victory.

Panathinaikos’ Croatian ace, Ante Rukavina, kick started Panathinaikos’ rout on eighteen minutes. Even though the Athenians opened the scoring early in the first half, it wasn’t until three minutes before the hour mark that Panathinaikos surged even further ahead. Brazilian defender Gabriel made it 2-0, before compatriot Cleyton made the win even more impressive as Panathinaikos went up 2-0.

With the win already sealed, Lazaros Christodoulopoulos added to Panthrakikos’ misery when he increased the lead to 4-0, but it was only consolation after the U-21 Greece international had struck the crossbar just minutes prior.

With the win Panathinaikos extended their Greek Cup plans, and assured their season battle remained on three fronts. For Panthrakikos, their impressive Super League performance from the weekend was overshadowed by a destructive loss at the hands of the ‘Trifylli’.

Over in Thessaloniki, there were no blowouts as there was in Thrace. Despite having the support of the home crowd at the Toumba Stadium, PAOK couldn’t find a way past Aris as both sides played to a 0-0 draw to force a replay of their round of sixteen tie. While both sides had injuries to cope with, a tight defensive duel between the two Thessaloniki giants developed in Greece’s northern metropolis.

It was the same score-line from a night ago between Panionios and Veria. On that occasion, the Beta Ethniki side held Panagiotis Stamatopoulos’ men to force a replay in two weeks time.

One more cup match is scheduled for this week, as Ergotelis entertains Skoda Xanthi at the Pankritio Stadium in Crete on Thursday. The remaining four matches are scheduled for next week, as Asteras Tripolis hosts Iraklis on Tuesday; OFI welcomes Olympiacos while Panserraikos tackles Larissa on Wednesday; lastly AEK hosts Kerkyra at the OAKA Spyro Louis Stadium on Thursday.